During his first week on the job, Aman picked up a Lombard fare headed for O`Hare. After dropping off the passenger at his terminal, Aman returned to the limo staging area, only to discover his customer`s gold credit card on the back seat.

He raced back to the departures deck, and since it was a Tuesday afternoon and traffic was light, he illegally parked his limo and ran inside looking for his passenger.

``He had on a blue jacket, and I was sure I`d recognize him if I saw him,`` Aman recalled. No luck.

He went to a white phone and had him paged three times. No response.

Aman hurried outside and was dumbfounded to find his limo gone. A security guard told him it probably had been towed. A panicky Aman flagged down a fellow limo driver, who took him to the auto pound. Sure enough, there was the limo service`s black car.

Much to his surprise, Aman was told he had to cough up $105 on the spot to retrieve the car, which was decorated with a $25 Chicago parking ticket. It cost an additional $7.50 to pay by credit card (his own). City employees there were not the least bit sympathetic to his plight, he added.

Depressed about losing nearly $140 out of his own pocket, especially after working three days as a trainee without pay, Aman returned to the limo garage, where he was bawled out for leaving his car unattended.

Incidentally, in the course of that long day, the concerned driver found himself back in the suburb where he had picked up the absent-minded passenger. He called the passenger`s home, reached his wife and returned the credit card to her.

``She was very appreciative,`` said Aman, who nonetheless acknowledges that doing the right thing isn`t always an enriching experience.

Lessons in humility

Hoffman Estates Mayor Michael O`Malley was leaving his office one recent afternoon when he noticed a woman and a young girl approaching.

``Do you know who that is?`` the mother asked her daughter, nodding toward the head of local government.

O`Malley straightened up to his full 6 feet 4 inches, sucked in what is left of his gut after a year of dieting and mentally prepared a few civic-minded remarks for the young Village Hall visitor.

About 1,000 students from Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington will work for eight hours on environmental and municipal cleanup projects in the northwest suburbs Saturday as part of Operation Strive.

The students collect pledges for each hour they work, and the money raised provides the budget for the youth ministries at Willow Creek for the entire year. Last year, the group raised more than $120,000.

Though walk-a-thons are nice, good exercise is about the only side benefit. But even the environment gets a boost from this fundraiser. Among the sites that will be spruced up by volunteer workers are Twin Lakes Recreation Center in Palatine, Cary Prairie, Veterans Acres in Crystal Lake, Poplar Creek Restoration in Hoffman Estates and Buffalo Grove High School.

Look to the stars

Harper College is becoming the hot spot for local astronomy buffs. The Planetary Studies Foundation recently announced plans to build a planetarium and science center on the Palatine campus as soon as it raises $6 million. In the meantime, it`s also the place to be Saturday, which is known among enthusiasts as Astronomy Day.

The Northwest Suburban Astronomers, a club of dedicated amateur star-gazers, and the Harper College astronomy department have a program designed to delight even casual observers of the heavens, starting at 5:30 p.m. in Building D on the Harper campus.

If the weather cooperates, a variety of telescopes will be set up outside for visual tours of the night skies.

Anybody who has visited the Harper campus knows you can spend light-years wandering from the parking lot to the right building. Star-searchers should park in Lots 6 and 7 off of Euclid Avenue.

Good works

In honor of their founder, the employees of Omron Systems of America Inc., Schaumburg, spend one day each spring serving the community. Friday they`ll hold a tag day at intersections in Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg for the Children`s Museum and Imaginasium, which is in Hoffman Estates but is looking for a new site.